Jump to content

SkySurveyBanner.jpg.21855908fce40597655603b6c9af720d.jpg

Rowan AZ100 Mount Owners Thread


johninderby

Recommended Posts

“She” is indeed a keeper. 🙂🙂🙂

Such a perfect combo the AZ100 and the StellaMira 80mm f/10. Just so much easier to track with the AZ100 compared to the old Skytee. Have found that by just applying gentle pressure to the Az knob more than really turning it allows you to keep the moon or whatever centered in the eyepiece for ages with no effort. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

What a mount. 🙂🙂🙂

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, johninderby said:

“She” is indeed a keeper. 🙂🙂🙂

Such a perfect combo the AZ100 and the StellaMira 80mm f/10. Just so much easier to track with the AZ100 compared to the old Skytee. Have found that by just applying gentle pressure to the Az knob more than really turning it allows you to keep the moon or whatever centered in the eyepiece for ages with no effort. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

What a mount. 🙂🙂🙂

That's good feedback John, shows the quality.
I was wondering how one would be in real world use rather than 'show fondling' (pardon that expression please!).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Last week was just amazing and sadly a bit unusual here on the edge of Glasgow: night after night of pretty clear skies. I had the Rowan AZ100 out almost every night. Early impressions... this is a really great mount. I ordered a Berlebach Uni18 tripod with mine which was both lighter and a bit less expensive than the Planet tripod. The tripod and mount (minus counterweight) together are not lightweight but are not hard to carry out to the back garden. Separate trips for the counterweight and bar, and  the Telescope. Initially I didn't have the counterweight for my refractor which weighs almost 8kg. It worked OK without counterweight, but movements are certainly smoother now.  I also went for the Nexus DSC setup. This has been a revelation to me, never having used setting circles before. For alignment, jit asks you to point  the scope vertically press OK, then proceed to align on 1st star, press OK then on to second star, OK. Done. It gives a readout of the pointing error after the second star. After that I went to the Messier Catalogue. M13...spot on. The objects were always nicely in the field centering depending on how carefully I had done the alignment. I am quite limited here, with no widefield eyepieces and no reticle eyepiece for more accurate alignment. I only have zoom eyepieces in a binoviewer.  But the Nexus makes a beautiful paring with the Rowan. For large slews just release the clutches and move the mount... so smooth, following the directions on the Nexus screen. When you are close, tighten the clutches, and use the slow-motion controls... they are such a pleasure to use. I would strongly recommend the AZ100, with or without Nexus. But for me with rather limited starhopping skills the Nexus is a superb addition.

thumbnail.jpg

  • Like 9
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It seems like the Berlebach tripod is a required option for the AZ100. Putting it on an EQ6 steel tripod would be sacrilege after all. 😁

Nice to see the number of AZ100 users growing. 👍🏻

Edited by johninderby
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The AZ100 certainly looks a great mount. Had I not acquired a Losmandy AZ8 in 2018 I would have been strongly tempted by the Rowan mount.

One of the reasons why I purchased the AZ8 was so I could connect Astro Device’s Nexus DSC system to it - though I use the encoders with the ‘Nexus II’ wi-fi unit (in conjunction with Sky Safari on my phone) rather than the Nexus DSC ‘computer’. I can attest to the excellence and usefulness of the Nexus DSCs. Once aligned pointing accuracy is excellent even when I’m using my C9.25. It certainly saves me a lot of time and frustration trying to locate DSOs in a small FOV from my less than dark skies!

I’ll be following this thread with interest in case a 130-150mm triplet lies in my future as I believe the capacity of the AZ100 is greater.

Sam

Edited by Arneb
Typo
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The exact capacity of the AZ100 is still to be determined and Rowan’s rating is very conservative. 

It is in a different class to the AZ8 and a much more heavily built mount. Internal components are much stronger. Would make a nice upgrade path from the AZ8. 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I have been a forum lurker for a while and thought I would make my first post here. I echo everything everyone says about this mount, it just exudes quality. I have a number of alt/az mounts and this is head and shoulders above them all. It may not have the absolute capacity of the APM az/maxload but I am not sure it is that far behind and the presence of the slo/mo controls make it so much nicer for me to use.

The attention to detail is fantastic, I love that you can screw the counterweight bar into the 2nd saddle. It is the little things that make this mount a joy to use.

The nexus dsc is a perfect partner for it as well, I have never used one before and it is so easy to use and very accurate. After the 2 star alignment every object was very close to the centre of the fov in my Binoviewers.

54C1A629-643C-44F5-8D54-E8565472E7F9.jpeg

  • Like 6
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

No one quite knows the actual load capacity of the AZ100 yet but very evident Rowan is being very conservative in their rating. 🤔

Hmmm....never seen an AZ100 on anything other than a Berlebach tripod. 🙂

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Neil P said:

I have been a forum lurker for a while and thought I would make my first post here. I echo everything everyone says about this mount, it just exudes quality. I have a number of alt/az mounts and this is head and shoulders above them all. It may not have the absolute capacity of the APM az/maxload but I am not sure it is that far behind and the presence of the slo/mo controls make it so much nicer for me to use.

The attention to detail is fantastic, I love that you can screw the counterweight bar into the 2nd saddle. It is the little things that make this mount a joy to use.

The nexus dsc is a perfect partner for it as well, I have never used one before and it is so easy to use and very accurate. After the 2 star alignment every object was very close to the centre of the fov in my Binoviewers.

54C1A629-643C-44F5-8D54-E8565472E7F9.jpeg

Lovely setup (mount and scope) :thumbright:

What scope is it by the way ?. Clearly a LZOS objective but which one ?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, John said:

Lovely setup (mount and scope) :thumbright:

What scope is it by the way ?. Clearly a LZOS objective but which one ?

 

Hi

it is one of the original TMB 115 CNC classics. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, Neil P said:

Hi

it is one of the original TMB 115 CNC classics. 

Excellent :thumbright:

I have a TMB/LZOS 130mm F/9.2 triplet. The one with the Kruppax 50 tube.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 hours ago, John said:

Excellent :thumbright:

I have a TMB/LZOS 130mm F/9.2 triplet. The one with the Kruppax 50 tube.

 

 

Nice, I am biased but I do think they are some of the best looking scopes around. I have a 152 as well as the 115, only downside to them is the weight.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Neil P said:

Nice, I am biased but I do think they are some of the best looking scopes around. I have a 152 as well as the 115, only downside to them is the weight.

My 130mm F/9.2 is not too heavy - 9.2 kg with finder, rings and diagonal. The tube length has posed a challenge for mountings though. The AZ100 handled it well and now I have a T-Rex which is superb.

I imagine that the 152 is quite a handful, having owned one or two 6 inch refractors in the past. Superb optics though I'm sure.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I’ve been looking for a quality AZ Mount for a while with a decent pay load so after some Discussion with Dave & Derek at Rowan what great Guys they are about the mount capability weight wise as I want to use it with all my scopes except my Dob lol 😂 but including the Takahashi 150 TOA  Dave and Derek assured me it was in the limits of the mount so  I purchased the AZ100 with DSC not wanting to add to much extra gear to my set ups I sourced an adapter for my IOPTRON Tri pier mount which is very stable this was sourced from telescope express in Germany 🇩🇪 and was here in 3 days next I didn’t want to add to my counterweight collection so Dave & Derek offered to make up an adapter sleeve to fit my weights now this is quality service so  the mount arrived today and what a piece of engineering far superior to anything I’ve had or seen even my AOY Master and that was great so I’ve got it all set for a quick tour tonight I must say first impression it moves superb with the Tak on board Derek kindly worked out what weight I needed and where to position it for me so here we go 

20EC171D-6D71-4A9B-8DB6-4882623092A9.jpeg

12E571ED-B49F-4070-AFE9-1C06ECF0199A.jpeg

8B04E42D-50EB-4E3B-9D23-F6422032CE53.jpeg

46935108-B293-4B09-A078-C699B2E2C816.jpeg

C7AEE700-41CD-418E-933B-DF48D9C0DF20.jpeg

AF5F7430-7877-4208-94A2-AD976FDF5588.jpeg

E4DC3C3A-999D-493F-B3EB-DEFB0518E573.jpeg

A9D99ED0-7707-4ACA-BE48-6D4CBB8F0208.jpeg

95C20DD7-C17E-4A91-BDCB-ED792DB05628.jpeg

8E275C0D-1A23-47E4-8658-ED8E59AA1020.jpeg

51BDBD7D-8368-4EEA-A2C1-58E106BC7BC0.jpeg

A0B3247E-89A6-4F93-8060-774F701175DC.jpeg

53BDCF3E-E79C-4922-9738-4841F38B9534.jpeg

F87E59F7-10C6-45DF-B8AA-01521649D8DB.jpeg

  • Like 7
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@garryblueboy 

Thanks for the post., 

I wonder if that tripod adapter will also fit the Berlebach UNI28? 

I've been looking at what I could use for a tripod extension for my Rowan AZ-100 + UNI28, so this looks promising.., 

Thanks again.., 

Best.., 

bsdsgl84 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.